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Theodore Roosevelt 



By William C Deming 




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Theodore Roosevelt 

By William C. Deming 



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Theodore Roosevelt retired from the presidency March 4, 
1£09. ShorLly thereafter he made his gTeat hunting- and explo- 
ration trip to Africa. Emerging- from the jungle he was re- 
ceived and entertained with gieat honor in Egypt, France, 
Germany and by Great Britain. 

Returning- to America early in the summer of 1910 his first 
extended tour was to Cheyenne, Wyoming-, as the special guest 
of the Frontier association, where he witnessed that unique 
show. He spent three days in Cheyenne and was entertained 
one evening- at the large sheep ranch of U. S. Senator Francis 
E. Warren. 

About one hundred visitors and local g-uests were present 
After dinner Colonel Roosevelt was surrounded by a number of 
newspaper men in the ' ' bunk house ' ' and for an hour talked as 
man to man. There was no formality and no restraint. 

William C. Deming-, editor of the Wyoming State Tribune, 
was present on that occasion, and on the following day pub- 
lished this pen picture of Colonel Roosevelt : 



0m. 

Author 
SEP ^ 1818 



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Col- Roosevelt When He Was President 



As He Appeared in 1910 



There are occasions which mark real mile posts in people's 
Ha es. 

But let the guest of honor he a cowlioy, an ex-pre^ident, a 
traveler, a naturalist, a soldier, a writer, a lecturer, a Roosevelt, 
all in one, and the occasion becomes an epoch. 

Sitting around a new pine tahle on a big Wyoming ranch, 
while viands such as only kings at times coinmand are served, 
is in itself quite satisfying to a hungry man- 
Yet after all it was not in the beautiful new ranch house 
on Pole creek, sixteen miles north of ( heyenne, where comfort, 
luxury and good cheer mingled uninterruptedly and lavishly 
for one hour that we saw the real Roose\elt. Though even 
there he divested himself of every suggestion of place and posi- 
tion, forgetting the historic welcome of roj^alty abroad and the 
cold shoulder of the "Old Guard" at home, and threw himself 
into the esprit of the informal affair like college boys at a class 
reunion. 

But it was after the dinner was served, and the first tahle 
had retired to the adjacent bunk house for coffee and cigars 
that we began to feel the presence of the master and get true 
glimpses of the weird, inexplicable character of the man. 

In the middle of the main floor was a long pine table, and 
on either side benches in lieu of chairs. Cue lamp dispelled the 
darkness of the hour and the smoke of the Havanas. Gathered 
in knots about the room were ex-cabinet officers, United States 
senators, newspaper men with international reputations, gov 
ernors, city officials, chauffeurs, and ranchmen. The cowboys 
and ranch hands of the Warren Livestock company came and 
went in the discharge of their duties, now and then lingering 
to catch a word from the old cowman whose range was the 
universe, and who has roped and hog-tied every honor within 
his native land. 



Even the m>i-i}i((s of stars seemed to be peeping through 
till" ()i>(Mi (Imois and windows at a man who had i-nii the gauntlet 
of hull ;in fiidcavor at .")]. and is now prepai'od. if not eager to 
do it all ()\cr a^ain. 

In the midst of tht^ s-moke and tlie bal)el of tongues sat 
K(>()S('\ rli . and those who could get near hiin sat opposite or 
hcsidc him. oi' lioxt'Tcd arcuuid within hearing distance. 

The nnin or nation tiiat thiidcs wisdom is found only in the 
iu'ad of the Sphinx ne\er kne\v Roosevelt. He is a veritable 
tori'ent of conversation, and overflowing reservoir of experi- 
eiu'es, a lestless, rnlling sea of thought. lie talks like a whirl- 
wind, shows his teeth lik'e a 1)ull pup. shakes liis head like 3 
butTalo, and thresins around with h:s aims and legs like his 
uneojKjuered l;n(d<ing [prototype of the now fanu)us Fi'ontier 
tield. 

He s(>es everxbody. hears everything, and yet leads the 
conversation at his will. Long aec-ustoiiied to pulilie life, 
crowded with visitors, overwhelnu'd with ad)uirers. he has long 
learned that he caiuiot let the throng talk at random, and ad 
infinilnni. Tlierefeie in this, as in all things else, he leads, yet 
answering and elucidating an\' pi-nper (piestion i)ut to him. 

In that hour in t!ie luink house Sunday evening he fought 
) ov(>r again the l.attle of San duan Hill; he recalled conversa- 
tions wiih Hamilton l^'ish the night before the young XeW 
Yorker was killed; talked of l'>U(d< () Weill, ami the colored 
' troo])s. He discoursed on the pi-eseiit peace, and any possibles 
fnlui'c wai'. telling <d' his plans to I'aise the I'nited States volun- 
teers if the opportunity ever comes in his time. 

He tiaii.'ped thi'ongli Africa, sailed down the Nile, ami 
dined with kiims. discussed I'oyaltx- and philosoi)hy, compared 
iiioiiarehs and I'epiililics. and said there is a [dace and a W(U'k 
for each. 

One tired cowpuiiclier who hail slept all day Sunda\' came 
sliambling down the stairs — it was a two s(oi->- affair — I'ubbing 
his red eyes, and remarked. "1 thought I lieard a sti'ange hoss 
in the coi-i-al." 

Always and e\-er tln' lighting spirit ol' the man was doiu 
inant. "I told the boys who enlisted with me in 1898 it would 
be no picnic — that the place of honor was the post of danger, 
and that each must expect to die." 



"Lil^e the Trojan niotlirrs, yon expeeted your men to 
return with thrir shields." and Iiefore we eouhl tiiiish the (|no 
tation he added, "oi- upon them/' and dashed away on anotlier 
subjeet. As in all (dse, he can give the other man a handicap, 
even in a quotation, and beat him to the tinisli. 

But we who sat near him (h:'sired to hear him talk al)Out 
liimself and asked liini many (piestions that would lielp us to 
gain some understanding of this human dynamo, this composite 
man of the north and south, the east and the west, whom all 
respect, and none (juite comi)rehend. And he was just as aj) 
proachal)le on that subject as any other. One of the pai'ty, call- 
ing attention to the fact that the New York Sun characterized 
his speeches as connnonidaces and platitudes, he gritted his 
teeth and said "But I live them. " He is Just as willing to 
challenge any criticism of himself as to fight the battles of his 
country. 

"I do not pretend to be an orator,'' savl he, "but what T 
say is true, and finds an echo in the hearts of the common 
people. As T spoke today, 'Beauty is fine, but strength is finer' 
— the strength of character and of miml and the body that 
ena])les a man to con(|uer a Avild horse or conquer these broad 
plains." A comparison was suggested between him and Em- 
peror William, whereupon he said, "The kaiser inherited his 
place — I made mine." 

Taking up another suggestion he remarked, "Oh, T knoAv 
they say I am not a scholar, but the great universities of Eu- 
rope -were ready to take a chance on that/' thus coloring his 
answer with a bit of American humor. 

Tn this connection he remarked Sunday: " 1 i)i-(^suin(^ there 
are those who will criticise me for leaving the stand at Frontier 
park, and riding around the track, but T felt there Avere several 
thousand people who were curious to see me. and tlmt it was as 
little as I could do to give them the oi)portnnity." 

"After all," turning to J. M. Irwin, father of Charles, he 
said, slapping the old horseman on the shoulder with his soft 
hat, "to be the father and grandfather of children who ride 
like yours is greater than to be president oi- a king. Oh, boys, 
this is the life !" 



For tiic tiiii;' Ii''ii,i>' tliis first citizen o\' th(> wor-ld let abso- 
lutcly nothinj^ ra"se a harrier between him and those who were 
intent upon seeing him. and hearing him talk. lie was as nat- 
urally exuberant as a schoolboy who has won his first prize. 
He was so absolutely unafiecied that he did not atfeet even 
modesty. lie was too earnest and honest to let a mere conven- 
tion destroy a ehaiacter study of himself by those whose sym- 
pathy and t'riondsh.p he could iecl. 

And who knows but that as he looks back over thirty years, 
and tries to follow his own career from the Had Lands of 
Dakota to the presidency, and then through a royal tour across 
Kurojx' thai Itoosevelt is a study and a pro})l<'m to himself? 

He is the strange'st man America has [)ro(luced — a gi'<3Mter 
enigma, if not a greater character than Lincoln. 

He does not smoke, but occasionally sips his wine at dinner 
}!nd when someone said at 9 o'clock, "(^ome on {>)lonek i|uit 
talking politics; it is time to go," he declared half humorously, 
but wilh Jacksonan emphasis and in the presence of all t!ie 
assembled, "1 lia\e not said a damn word al»out j)olitics." His 
favorite cuss-word, however, is "By George." 

He is a rar<^ coirdnnation of unconventionality, candor, self- 
confidence, fearlessnsss, aggressiveness, positiveness, and ner 
vous physical enerty, and it is no doubt this combination that 
has iriade him the popular leader he is today. 



I cannot better close this hasty summary of Roosevelt's 
characteristics than by quoting some lines spoken recently in 
his honor by his lifelong friend, Henry Cabot Lodge : 

He dwelt with the tribes of the marsh and moor, 

He sat at the board of kings ; 
He tasted the toil of the burdened slave 

And the joy that triumph brings- 
But wbethei to jungle or p?Jace hall, 

Or white-wallsd tent he came, 
He v/as a bi other to kint anl soldier and slave; 

His welcome was the same , 



Cheyi^nne, Wyoming, August 10. 1!)1!). 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



009 932 865 4 ^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



009 932 865 4 



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